Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#391

Post by Razengan » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 6:54 AM UTC

oxfordmale wrote: post #183

It is likely the seller flagged your review as off topic as it doesn't actually cover the product. Any minor reference to the delivery (package arrived damaged) is reason for rejection. I had to rewrite a few negative reviews as they got initially rejected based on such technicalities. For one of the negative reviews I rewrote, the vendor contacted me and offered a refund for removing the negative review. Another ven…

The world has become excessively oPtImIzEd for screwing people over after money has been exchanged, and minimizing the ways the prey can warn each other.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#392

Post by hunter2_ » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:05 AM UTC

rebuilder wrote: post #354

nextos wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google reviews are massively edited upon complaints. A while ago I rented a pretty nice and expensive apartment in Southern England. I was the first tenant and there were huge pipe leaks and other horrible construction issues, like a misaligned lift that kept trapping people inside. Neighbors next door, who owned apartments built by the same company, had different but equally annoying issues. And the company didn't d…

Selectively removing negative reviews is so sleazy, one wonders if it is actually even legal. Surely there's some truth-in-advertising legislation this falls under?

Not a lawyer but I think in the US, you have the right to remain silent. I don't think a law can compel anyone to publish anything. Might be the first amendment.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#393

Post by ENIanDEM » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:20 AM UTC

chihuahua wrote: post #372

lemoncucumber wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A decent free option for reviews is Wirecutter from the New York Times. I've yet to buy anything that they recommended that was outright bad, and they have a surprising breadth of categories that they review. They make money through affiliate links, but they claim that the writers/reviewers have no knowledge of which companies have affiliate relationships with the Wirecutter so it doesn't bias their picks.

I used to think Wirecutter was useful, until I saw their recommendation for "the best bike rack" (for carrying bikes on the back of a car). They insisted that the best kind of bike rack is the type that is attached to the trunk lid using nylon straps and hooks. That's the cheapest kind, but also the worst by far, from my own experience and also just common sense. If $100 bike racks that scratch your car and have the…

FWIW, I have a nylon strap-mounted rack (name withheld to avoid accusations of ninja advertising!) which hooks onto the trunk seam. 6 hooks and it's brilliant. Much cheaper than a hitch mounted version, much more compact so I've been able to hang it in a little storage closet in the last few apartments I've lived in and goes on a wide variety of cars without any damage. Rock solid with 3 chunky mtbs on it too. I've even had people come up to me in car parks asking me for details!

Not wanting to derail the discussion but if it was that that put you of the review site you mention, it could be worth reconsidering..

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#394

Post by coryrc » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:38 AM UTC

twblalock wrote: post #158

Paid reviews have been a weapon on Amazon for a long time. False accusations of paying for reviews would also be weaponized. What would stop a dishonest seller from smearing a competitor, by paying people to write reviews on the competitor's product page which falsely accuse the competitor of paying for reviews?

Amazon just opens the package to see if the claims are true.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#395

Post by SifJar » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:40 AM UTC

bigbubba wrote: post #299

runawaybottle wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 1 star review that loves the product but hated the way it was shipped. Someone needs to write a textbook on the pathology of those people.

The customer paid not only for the product but also for the service of having that product delivered to them. Asking them to restrict their review to only one aspect of what they paid for does not seem reasonable.

Issue here is that any given product on Amazon may be sold by numerous different sellers (and the set of sellers could of course change over time etc.). There is no indication which seller a reviewer purchased from (unless they explicitly state, but I've never seen that), so it's completely possible that they ordered from the one seller that packages the product terribly for shipping & the rest are all fine.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#396

Post by greggman3 » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:41 AM UTC

hunter2_ wrote: post #392

rebuilder wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selectively removing negative reviews is so sleazy, one wonders if it is actually even legal. Surely there's some truth-in-advertising legislation this falls under?

Not a lawyer but I think in the US, you have the right to remain silent. I don't think a law can compel anyone to publish anything. Might be the first amendment.

Yes, it's sad.

I've had Yelp and AirBnB remove reviews. I don't know what to do about it. They Yelp one I can't verify the service (a dentist) didn't get better. The AirBnB one I can tell nothing was fixed because the issues are verifiable in the listing itself.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#397

Post by known » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:43 AM UTC

   1. Buy a Product
   2. Give 5 star rating as Verified Buyer
   3. Return the Product

Amazon doesn't remove my review;

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#398

Post by tdeck » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:44 AM UTC

frgtmypass wrote: post #275

donmcronald wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that absolutely blows my mind is the way other retailers want to be like Amazon, so they've all added 3rd party sellers to their websites. It's impossible to find anything because search results are dominated by absolute garbage on every retailer's site. They've taken the worst part of Amazon and latched onto it like it's the magic sauce that's going to make them relevant again. The other thing that I find…

I buy my electronics on B&H. Other photography stores are probably as good. Professional photographers buy from them, even if there's a premium, because they trust B&H. That's B&H competitive advantage; trust. If they screw that up they'll wither away. I used to buy on Newegg, but when I bought my most recent computer build I realized most of it was from third party resellers. They screwed the order up, and it was a…

Your wife should file a chargeback. It's not a difficult process and it somewhat favors the cardholder.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#399

Post by ternaryoperator » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 7:49 AM UTC

hunter2_ wrote: post #392

rebuilder wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selectively removing negative reviews is so sleazy, one wonders if it is actually even legal. Surely there's some truth-in-advertising legislation this falls under?

Not a lawyer but I think in the US, you have the right to remain silent. I don't think a law can compel anyone to publish anything. Might be the first amendment.

Typically, the right to remain silent is associated with the right to refuse self-incrimination in a criminal proceeding, which is part of the fifth amendment.

The law can compel publication, but that power is typically used for material arising in judicial proceedings or documents of inherent public interest (like the Watergate tapes, etc.). So, it would be unlikely to apply here.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#400

Post by mjevans » Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 8:02 AM UTC

hunter2_ wrote: post #392

rebuilder wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selectively removing negative reviews is so sleazy, one wonders if it is actually even legal. Surely there's some truth-in-advertising legislation this falls under?

Not a lawyer but I think in the US, you have the right to remain silent. I don't think a law can compel anyone to publish anything. Might be the first amendment.

Nor am I one. However there are surely differences between chilling free speech (removing speech), litigating against slanderous speech, the illusion of (but not actually) a public forum for reviews of all sorts (particularly if there are ratings but legitimate low rated reviews are removed), and retaliating against those who've publicly reviewed.

It is far more credible to believe that a loose association of similar tactics across a small number of large business entities might reasonably create a chilling effect upon speech.

An example; as a renter I have heard rumors of others who've left low reviews in public places and find it difficult to find willing renters in the future. I have no basis for this but the process of qualifying a renter is also opaque so I have no evidence to refute it either. It isn't unreasonable to think market forces could coincidentally cause various entities to reach a similar logical conclusion, or that an outsourced background check agency checks for various public posts that might be relevant to the rental agencies.